Railway car

ABSTRACT

The present utility model relates to design of open wagons used for transporting cargo that does not require protection from atmospheric precipitation. Disclosed is a railway car comprising at least two bodies supported by carriages, each body comprising a frame, two side walls and two end walls. Said at least two bodies are sequentially coupled to each other by means of at least one joint assembly, wherein each body is supported by two carriages, and wherein bodies adjacent to each joint assembly are supported by one common carriage. The distance between the closest points of mutually facing end walls of the neighboring bodies of said at least two bodies arranged on a straight track section is less than 800 mm. The technical result lies in increase of useable volume of the space between sequentially arranged railway car bodies and decrease of empty weight-to-carrying capacity ratio of the railway car.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Russian Application No. 2014133355 filed 13 Aug. 2014, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present utility model relates to railway transport, in particular to design of open wagons used for transporting cargo that does not require protection from atmospheric precipitation, i.e. bulk non-powdered cargo, dry bulk cargo, stockpiled cargo and unit load cargo, and to design of covered wagons used for transporting cargo that requires protection from atmospheric precipitation.

BACKGROUND ART

Presently, four-axle open wagons and covered wagons are widely used in railway transport.

Generally, four-axle wagons in a freight train are coupled to each other by means of automatic couplers known in the art.

An example of such wagon is a universal open wagon of 12-9761 model with unloading gates manufactured by the company “Tikhvinsky vagonostroitelny zavod” (Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant) and designed for transporting cargo that does not require protection from atmospheric precipitation, e.g. bulk non-powdered cargo, dry bulk cargo, stockpiled cargo and unit load cargo.

The open wagon of 12-9761 model has a conventional open wagon design and comprises an all-steel body mounted on two carriages, said body comprising a frame, two side walls, two end walls and unloading gates.

The open wagon of 12-9761 model is characterized by the following parameters: body volume is 88 m³, length over coupler pulling faces is 13920 mm, body length is 12771 mm.

Therefore, in the above open wagon of 12-9761 model, the distance between the closest points of mutually facing end walls of the neighboring bodies is about 800-810 mm.

The described open wagon is the closest analog for the present utility model.

The disadvantage of the described open wagon of 12-9761 model is ineffective usage of space between neighboring open wagons, said space occupied by coupler devices, e.g. automatic couplers, and free of transported cargo. Furthermore, said disadvantage is responsible for low load per unit length of the knoen open wagon, load per unit length defined as ratio of car load per one meter of railway track.

At present time, the challenge of increasing cargo transportation efficiency by improving technical and economic performance of open wagons (e.g. load per unit length, carrying capacity, stowage factor and empty weight-to-carrying capacity ratio thereof) remains relevant.

Therefore, the object of the present utility model is to provide an open wagon design providing cargo transportation with maximum-efficiency by improving technical and economic performance of the open wagon.

SUMMARY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The object is achieved by the disclosed utility model that provides a railway car comprising at least two bodies supported by carriages, each body comprising a frame, two side walls and two end walls, wherein said at least two bodies are sequentially coupled to each other by at least one joint assembly, wherein each body is supported by two carriages, wherein bodies adjacent to each joint assembly are supported by one common carriage, and the distance between the closest points of mutually facing end walls of neighboring bodies of said at least two bodies arranged on a straight track section is less than 800 mm.

The technical result achieved by the present utility model lies in increase of useable volume of space between sequentially arranged open wagon bodies. The technical result is achieved by decreasing the distance between end walls of said bodies. By decreasing the distance between end walls of neighboring bodies, the length of a train consisting of the disclosed open wagons is also decreased compared to the length of a freight train consisting of known four-axle open wagons.

In the disclosed open wagon, the overall stowage factor is also increased compared to that of the known four-axle open wagon due to the fact that the disclosed open wagon comprises at least two bodies.

Furthermore, the disclosed open wagon is characterized by an increase in load per unit length.

Further, the technical result provided by the present utility model lies in decrease in the number of carriages required for transporting the same cargo. Said decrease is achieved by increasing specific volume of the body, which is defined as a ratio of stowage factor to carrying capacity, due to the fact that the disclosed open wagon is an open wagon of a joint type, wherein each open wagon body is supported by two carriages, and bodies adjacent to each joint assembly are supported by one common carriage. Therefore, the disclosed open wagon provides the possibility of a fuller carrying capacity usage when transporting cargo with relatively low specific density.

Furthermore, when compared to the known four-axle car where the frame length thereof corresponds to frame length of each part of the disclosed open wagon comprising only one body, the open wagon according to the present utility model has a reduced mass and a reduced carrying capacity for each part of the open wagon comprising only one body due to the fact that each body is supported by two carriages, while bodies adjacent to each joint assembly are supported by one common carriage, and the stowage factor for each part of the disclosed open wagon is equal to that of the known four-axle car.

Furthermore, when compared to a hypothetical four-axle car which can be provided with increased frame length compared to that of the known four-axle car, said increased frame length being equal to the overall length of the open wagon according to the present utility model, and the hypothetical four-axle car can thus have a stowage factor equal to that of the disclosed open wagon, in the open wagon according to the present utility model the distance between center points of neighboring carriages is reduced compared to the distance between center points of neighboring carriages of said hypothetical four-axle car due to the fact that in the disclosed open wagon two bodies are sequentially coupled to each other by means of at least one joint assembly, each body is supported by two carriages, and bodies adjacent to each joint assembly are supported by one common carriage. Due to the fact that in the disclosed open wagon distances between center points of neighboring carriages are reduced compared to the distance between center points of neighboring carriages in the hypothetical four-axle car, and the length of each frame in the disclosed open wagon is smaller than the increased frame length of the hypothetical four-axle car, the cross-sectional area of longitudinal frame bars can be reduced, therefore reducing mass of each frame, and therefore, reducing the mass of each body of the disclosed open wagon, and thus, the empty weight-to-carrying capacity ratio of each body of the disclosed open wagon is reduced, which, in turn, provides lower empty weight-to-carrying capacity ratio of the disclosed open wagon compared to the empty weight-to-carrying capacity ratio of the hypothetical four-axle car with increased frame length.

Due to the decreased mass of each part of the open wagon comprising only one frame, and due to the decreased empty weight-to-carrying capacity ratio of the open wagon, a reduction in manufacturing and operating costs of the open wagon is provided. Furthermore, the reduction in manufacturing and operating costs of the open wagon is provided by the possibility of using three carriages for supporting of two bodies, while retaining the same stowage factor for each part of the open wagon comprising only one body, said stowage factor being equal to that of the known four-axle car with identical frame length.

The above advantages of the disclosed open wagon provide increased cargo transportation efficiency.

In a preferred embodiment of the present utility model, said at least one joint assembly is a hinge joint assembly.

In another preferred embodiment of the present utility model, each of said at least two bodies comprises a roof.

In yet another preferred embodiment of the present utility model, a distance between the closest points of mutually facing end walls of neighboring bodies of said at least two bodies arranged on a straight track section is from 150 mm to 800 mm.

LIST OR REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1, 2—bodies -   3—joint assembly -   4, 5—frames -   6, 7, 8—carriages -   9, 10—side walls -   11, 12—end walls

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of an open wagon according to a preferred embodiment of the present utility model.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a side view of an open wagon according to a preferred embodiment of the utility model.

The present utility model is described hereinbelow in the context of an open wagon. However, the following disclosure is also applicable to a covered wagon and is not limited to the embodiments disclosed in the description of the present utility model.

The open wagon shown in FIG. 1 comprises two bodies 1, 2, sequentially coupled to each other by means of one hinge joint assembly 3.

The open wagon according to the present utility model is not limited to the preferred embodiment and can comprise a plurality of joint assemblies between bodies, depending on the open wagon carrying capacity requirements.

Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment of the utility model, the joint assembly is a hinge joint assembly. However, the joint assembly can be of any known type without limitation.

Bodies 1, 2 comprise frames 4, 5 and are supported by three carriages 6, 7, 8, wherein bodies 1, 2 are supported by one common carriage 7 in the joint assembly 3 area directly or indirectly without limitation. In the preferred embodiment of the utility model, two other carriages 6, 8 are positioned near the ends of frames 4, 5. The positions of said two carriages 6, 8 are selected to provide equal vertical load applied by the loaded open wagon to each carriage.

The carriages can be carriages of any known type. In case carriages of different types are used in one car, their positions are also selected to provide equal vertical load on each carriage.

The open wagon is preferably used for transporting cargo that that does not require protection from atmospheric precipitation, i.e. bulk non-powdered cargo, dry bulk cargo, stockpiled cargo and unit load cargo.

According to the preferred embodiment of the utility model, each body 1, 2 of the open wagon comprises two side walls 9, 10 and two end walls 11, 12 mounted on frames 4, 5 in order to limit space occupied by the cargo, and in order to maintain said cargo on frames 4, 5.

If necessary, side walls and/or end walls of the open wagon can be made removable or, alternatively, said walls can be welded to the frames.

FIG. 1 illustrates a distance (L) between end walls 11, 12 of neighboring bodies 1, 2. According to the present utility model, said distance (L) on a straight track section is less than 800 mm.

In the preferred embodiment of the present utility model, said distance between the closest points of mutually facing end walls 11, 12 of the neighboring bodies 1, 2 is from 150 mm to 800 mm.

It should be noted that despite the fact that in the embodiment of the utility model described hereinabove, the open wagon comprises two bodies, in other embodiments the open wagon can comprise more than two bodies, e.g. three or four bodies.

In this case, some or all of the bodies can be open wagons (i.e. without roof) or covered wagons comprising a roof or other possible structural elements used for protecting cargo from atmospheric precipitation, depending on the type of transported cargo. In this case, each body is supported by at least two carriages, wherein bodies adjacent to one joint assembly are supported by one common carriage.

When using of the disclosed open wagon, the cargo is received within the open wagon bodies at a loading station. The cargo is loaded using conventional loading means. If necessary, the cargo is tied using conventional methods. The cargo is delivered to the point of destination and is unloaded using conventional means.

It should be noted that the open wagon for transporting cargo not requiring protection from atmospheric precipitation disclosed hereinabove constitutes only one of preferred embodiments of the present utility model. As noted above, the described embodiments of the utility model, features thereof and technical results achieved due to said features are applicable to a closed wagon used for transporting cargo that requires protection from atmospheric precipitation. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the present utility model without departing from the scope of the present utility model defined by the accompanying claims. 

1. A railway car comprising at least two bodies supported by carriages, each body comprising a frame, two side walls and two end walls, characterized in that the at least two bodies are sequentially coupled to each other by means of at least one joint assembly, wherein each body is supported by two carriages, wherein bodies adjacent to each joint assembly are supported by one common carriage, wherein the distance between the closest points of mutually facing end walls of neighboring bodies of said at least two bodies arranged on a straight track section is less than 800 mm.
 2. The railway car according to claim 1, wherein the at least one joint assembly is a hinge joint assembly.
 3. The railway car according to claim 1, wherein each body comprises a roof.
 4. The railway car according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the closest points of mutually facing end walls of neighboring bodies of said at least two bodies arranged on a straight track section is from 150 mm to 800 mm. 